Teen-ager's Plan Helps Him Rake In Big Bucks

Summer Business Is Growing

ROANOKE — During the summer, many teens scramble to fast-food restaurants and scribble their names on applications in hopes of securing a job.

Sixteen-year-old Justin Malone of Roanoke had a different plan. "I don't want to flip burgers," he said. "I don't like all that grease."

Instead, Malone runs his own lawn-mowing business.

Each morning, he hops on his riding mower and heads down the road to his appointments, pulling a wagon behind him with a push mower, rakes and shovels, a gas-powered trimmer, a leaf blower and a ladder. He's protected from the sun by a colorful umbrella he bought at a flea market for $3 and then connected to the wagon.

Recently, grass clippings flew from his mower in the front yard of one of his customers. He blew the clippings from the driveways. As the sun reached the highest point in the sky, Malone wiped sweat from his brow. He loaded up his equipment and headed down the road to the next job - $25 richer.

"I wasn't counting, but how long did that take me to mow that yard back there?" he asked. "Thirty minutes?"

Since Malone started his Pro Mowing business four summers ago, he has developed quite a clientele. He mows 16 yards a week, and he usually only rests on Sundays. Sometimes he even mows into the late hours of the day.

On one recent night, he was driving his mower home after finishing a job and got pulled over by the police for not having brake lights on his wagon. He went out immediately and spent $25 on lights that he wired from the rear of his wagon to the battery of his mower.

"If it can be rigged, he'll rig it," Betty Hugh said. He mows her yard for free. And on hot summer days, she returns the favor by letting him swim in her pool.

The day of this interview was a slow day. The three lawns he worked on earned him less than $100. The day before, he'd made $250 by mowing six yards. He said he needed that money after a weekend shopping spree. He bought a $150 pair of boots, some clothes, played miniature golf and took his little brother to see the movie "Shrek."

"I had a good time," he said, smiling. "You just got to spend it wisely."

Last summer, he invested $2,000 of his summer savings in certificates of deposit. He said he's put $6,000 into them over the years.

Malone will be a senior at Minnick Education Center in Salem in the fall. After graduation, most of his peers will be bouncing off into "the real world," or heading off to college to get more education. Malone will have a different plan.

He said he'll probably join the Army to earn funds for college, but what he really wants to do is "keep on mowing."